Scientists: Walnuts Reduce Diabetes Risk By 25%

Walnuts are well known food for brain, and the benefits of walnuts as the best natural brain function booster were confirmed by numerous studies and researchers. Scientists recommend us consuming 2-3 walnuts a day in order to provide our body with natural fatty acids, essential nutrients for balanced metabolism and especially fat metabolism. By eating small amounts of walnuts on a regular basis we can prevent serious cardiovascular diseases including heart disease and heart attack. Finally, according to the findings published in 2011 by an expert group Marshall University, walnuts can play a role of a natural protection against breast cancer in modern women. Detailed information on that study can be found in this article. There are numerous other benefits of walnuts which make this food highly valued and loved around the world, but still researchers go on studying this miraculous gift of our Mother nature and discover new therapeutic properties of this type of nuts.

This week, a scientific team at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, US, reported about the discovered amazing properties of walnuts to cut diabetes risk. According to their findings published in the latest issue of the Journal of Nutrition, by consuming 3-4 walnuts just 2-3 times a week it is possible to cut diabetes risk by almost a quarter. This is not the first and only evidence to the fact that walnuts can play a role of natural type 2 diabetes protection, and there were some brief studies (like the one by an expert group the University of California Los Angeles) pointing to possible effects of walnuts as anti-diabetes food. The findings were received after analyzing the data collected on about 140,000 American women aged between 35 and 77, who participated in the study. The participants were asked to consume 30 g of walnuts (approximately 3-4 walnuts) at least two times a week for a certain period of time. For the next ten years, all the participants were tracked in order to find out what number of the women who participated in the study developed type 2 diabetes.

In particular, the scientists monitored daily diet of the participants, regardless of them consuming walnuts in the recommended amounts. Also, the researchers monitored body weight of the participants and made regular evaluations of the amount of fat in the body of each participant. After analyzing the data collected for 10 years, the scientists came up with very interesting conclusions. It turned out that by consuming 28-30 g of walnuts only 2 times a week helped the study participants to reduce their type two diabetes risk for about 24 per cent compared to those participants who reported not consuming this natural food at all during the study. At the same time, as the analysis of the collected data has shown, consuming the stated amount of walnuts as rarely as once a week or as little as three times a months still can bring to very good effects and reduce type two diabetes risk for 13 per cent.

‘These results suggest higher walnut consumption is associated with a significantly lower risk of type two diabetes in women,’ it is stated in the report published this week. Despite the fact that the participants of the research were only women, the scientists are convinced that the discovered effects can be valid for men as well. At the same time, a relevant study on male participants is already being planned. The reported study is the largest one in the history of studying health effects of walnuts, and it evoked a great interest in scientific circles, especially among the diabetes specialists. It is estimated that in the nearest future, the number of people suffering from type 2 diabetes will increase. According to the estimations of the experts from Diabetes UK, in 2025 the number of patients with type 2 diabetes will reach 4 millions people, and 5 years later it will grow up to 5 million patients. That is why it is very important to learn as much as possible about possible natural treatments and type 2 diabetes prevention options.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

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